Physicians group announces new leadership

The Optimum Physician Alliance has announced new leadership of the physicians group.

Dr. Thomas Rosenthal will serve as chief medical executive, and Dr. John J. Bodkin II, a family physician at Highgate Medical Group, will serve as chairman of the Physician Leadership Board, the physicians that provide oversight to Optimum.

Rosenthal, a family physician, is stepping down as chairman of family medicine at the University at Buffalo. He also is a founding director of the New York State Area Health Education Center.

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, Kaleida Health and a group of physicians last year announced a plan to partner on a new, more affordable health insurance option called Align marketed to self-insured employers. Optimum is the organization that will represent the 500 physicians in the new “tailored network.”

“OPA’s goal is to deliver clinically integrated, lower-cost, higher-value health care for Western New Yorkers, and I am confident in our ability to accomplish this,” Rosenthal said in a statement.